Category: Cardiology 101

posts here focus on a variety of topics all about the heart and how it works

How Daylight Saving Time is hurting your heart

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 9 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥  @HeartSisters

It’s time once again, heart sisters, for the springtime ritual that welcomes something called Daylight Saving Time. This is not a good time of year if you love to sleep in. When you squint open one sleepy eye at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning, your body will feel like it’s really only 5 a.m. Ouch!  And a number of studies suggest that the rates of acute myocardial infarction (MI or heart attack) are significantly increased immediately after this transition to Daylight Saving Time every spring.

So good luck at successfully getting through that transition this year.   . Continue reading “How Daylight Saving Time is hurting your heart” →

Could you wait 10 years for a cardiac diagnosis?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 25 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

My pal Cheryl Strachan, a Registered Dietitian in Calgary and author of my favourite cookbook for heart patients (30-Minute Heart Healthy Cookbook: Delicious Recipes for Easy, Low-Sodium Meals ), contacted me on February 13th (our national ‘Wear Red Canada’ Day) to ask:

“Are you watching today’s ‘Wear Red Canada’ webinar?  If you’re  listening to Bobbi-Jo Green’s heart patient story, I’m picturing smoke coming out of your ears!”

Cheryl had guessed correctly. By the time Bobby-Jo finished her webinar presentation, I was livid. Continue reading “Could you wait 10 years for a cardiac diagnosis?” →

Were your 12-lead ECG electrodes placed where they should be?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 4 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥   @HeartSisters

If you’ve had as many 12-lead ECG tests as I’ve had done over the years since my heart attack, you too may marvel at how swiftly the nurse or paramedic or stress test clinic tech can slap those sticky electrode patches onto your chest, arms and legs.  Having observed many people slapping patches on me, I often wonder:  how do they know if they’re attaching those electrocardiogram patches onto the right anatomical places?       .  

Continue reading “Were your 12-lead ECG electrodes placed where they should be?” →

Modern medicine is male-centric medicine, and that’s a problem for women.

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 15 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥   @HeartSisters 

In September, I mentioned here an important book written by Dr. Alyson McGregor, an Emergency physician and associate professor of medicine at Brown University.  The book: “Sex Matters:  How Male-Centric Medicine Endangers Women’s Health and What We Can Do About It“.   Her first chapter opens with a story about Julie, a 32-year old woman she met in her Emergency department one day – a story that’s disturbingly familiar to women like me whose heart attack has been misdiagnosed:          .    Continue reading “Modern medicine is male-centric medicine, and that’s a problem for women.” →